Life and Times at Shiz University
by ToastWeaselofDOOM
Summary: Eventual Gelphie. Modern College AU. Elphaba is at University on a scholarship and is determined to make the world a better place. Galinda is at University on her rich daddy's dime, determined to party, socialize, and maybe get a degree in between. So, naturally, ResLife would pair them up to be roommates. So help them.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Part 1 of 3! Happy Holidays! (The other parts will be uploaded within the week!)

* * *

_Shiz University - Part 1_

* * *

If you had told Elphaba Thropp that at end of her first year at Shiz University she would be in a relationship with her roommate Galinda Upland, she would have told you to get your head examined. Or, if she had been feeling particularly annoyed, she would have told you where you could stick it. But now, as she lay curled with Galinda in their tiny dorm room, re-reading over her Ozian History notes in preparation for her upcoming final exam, she had trouble picturing it any other way.

Galinda stirred a bit, shifting against Elphaba's torso, her fingers curling into the fabric of Elphaba's oversized sweater as she nuzzled against her girlfriend's shoulder. Elphaba took her hand off of where it rested on Galinda's hip to turn the page in her spiral, then settled back into reading. This has become a ritual—Elphaba studied at her desk until Galinda harassed her to cuddle, and eventually the green witch would give in and allow the her girlfriend to drag her into her own bed, where Galinda would curl up against her in the tiny bed while Elphaba would rest her chin on Galinda's head and continue reading what she had been engrossed in beforehand.

"Elphieeee," the blonde underneath her chin whined softly, her warm breath tickling the skin of Elphaba's neck.

"Yes, my sweet?" Elphaba replied, her eyes never leaving the cramped lines of text she was observing over Galinda's curls.

"Let's dooo something. You've been studying for ages!"

Elphaba glanced at the clock. Barely an hour had pass since they had returned from their Sorcery Final and Galinda had insisted on getting some 'Elphie Time' before dinner. Elphaba had acquiesced, as long as she was allowed to read over her Ozian History notes. "It's hardly been ages."

The blonde in her arms rolled over, huffing in false exasperation. "Why are you always so difficult?!"

Elphaba chuckled. "My sweet, I've been this way since the day you met me."

* * *

Elphaba looks critically over the small dorm room that will be her domicile for the next four months. There are two twin beds of questionable sturdiness on either side of the room with desks pushed against their footboards. They have been provided with surprisingly decent rolling desk chairs, which surprises her. Her gaze moves on, and notices a small nightstand with a lamp resides between the beds. Behind it is a small window with faded navy curtains. When Elphaba stands between the two beds and turns to look back at the door, she sees two floor-to-ceiling closet/dresser contraptions taking up the walls on either side of the centered door.

Elphaba quickly judges how the swing of the closet door will affect sitting at the desks, which are in close proximity to them. It will be tight, but she will manage. It is not like she is not used to cramped quarters. The room is just about as big as what she had at home, only Elphaba had had more bookshelves.

The green girl sighs and sets her rucksack on the bed on the left, then heaves her suitcase on after it. She does not care who her roommate is, or what they have to say about the rooming situation. They (presumably a she) are late, so this bed is hers.

Nanny bustles in a few seconds later with her bin of miscellaneous supplies. "Well, this seems cozy!" she says as she sets the plastic bin on the desk at the foot of the bed.

Spare her. Nanny was trying to make small talk. Elphaba made a non-committal noise and begins to unzip her suitcase so she can unpack. Nanny sits down in the chair at what will presumably be her roommate's desk and watches the green transfer clothing from her suitcase to her closet/dresser. The jeans, the turtle necks, the t-shirts, her marginal collection of underthings and socks, all go in the bottom dresser section. Her few skirts and blouses and her two nightshirts get hung in the closet part. So does the worn grey peacoat. The gloves, the scarf, and some of the things she has brought for winter get stored in the bottommost drawer of the dresser.

She does not have much clothing. She never has, mostly because her father does not believe a green girl should have much clothing. That's alright. She clashes with everything anyway.

"You can go now," Elphaba says to Nanny after a while. "I can complete the rest by myself."

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm just resting my old bones." Nanny shuffles around in the chair, obviously having been waiting for Elphaba to dismiss her. She struggles to her feet. "But I really must get back and take care of your sister."

Nessarose. Elphaba is not sure if she is going to miss her sister's incessant pious prattle or be jubilant that she does not have to hear it for four months. She supposed time would tell.

"Have a safe trip back to Munchkinland," she says, more out of courtesy than anything. She is not one for goodbyes, or small talk, or any kind of talking that is not academic, really.

Nanny nods. "Have a good semester! Call if you need anything, won't you?"

Elphaba nods. The old woman pats her cheek then lets herself out. Elphaba takes a moment to take a breath, then gets back to work.

She is halfway through assembling a small bookshelf for one side of her small desk when a team of young men appear. They explain their presence to her—they are here to loft the other bed so that her roommate, whenever she decides to show herself, can have it done when she arrives. Elphaba lets them do what they do, and they complete the task with efficiency. She is shelving the collection of books (a small part of a much bigger library back home) when they leave.

The green girl gets her books in, her coffee pot and printer installed, sheets on her bed, her laptop and lamp set up, and her bin and suitcase put away all before midday. And still her roommate has yet to arrive. Elphaba could not care less. She has to go to the Bursars office and sort out a slight glitch with her scholarship, the only reason she is here at Shiz University in the first place, so she leaves the room still not knowing who her roommate is or what she even looks like. All she knows is that she's very, very late.

* * *

When Elphaba returned to the dorm, her roommate had arrived. The green girl paused in the open door, watching the short, blonde girl stringing fairy lights along her lofted bed. She was dressed in an alarming shade of pink, and there were far too many bins of clothes stuffed in the now empty space in between the bed and the closet to be necessary. She was humming some obnoxious tune to herself as she worked, headphones blasting.

Elphaba disliked her instantly.

….Not that she liked anybody to begin with.

Elphaba decided to just get this over with, and she walked into the room, depositing her bag on her desk chair. The blonde girl turned to look at her—and shrieked.

It was no one of those surprised yelps or even a yell. It was a full earsplitting shriek that made Elphaba wince.

"Who the hell are you?!" the blonde screeched, backing up against the far side of the wall.

"Your roommate," Elphaba replied icily.

"You're green!" The girl exclaimed.

"I am?" the green girl asked in mock surprise, sarcasm dripping from every syllable. "I had no idea. Thank you for informing me. And before you ask because I can see it written all over your face, no it is not contagious, yes I've always been this color, no it does not rub off, and no you cannot touch it."

The blonde girl blinked, obviously not used to such acerbity. "_Well then." _ She sniffed and returned to rearranging the lights. "Not like I'd want to touch a green freak anyway."

Elphaba bristled, but bit her tongue. She just wanted a rise. That is all they ever wanted. Instead, the green girl grabbed her bag and stomped out, intent on finding the library and getting a head start on her textbooks.

* * *

Her roommate, she found out, was Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands. The blonde, after finding out exactly _who_ Elphaba was (the Thropp Third Descending), spent a period of two days trying to suck up to the green girl. However, after Elphaba proved she was not interested in the social status game, Galinda returned to ignoring her presence and gossiping about her with ShenShen and Pfanne.

The good thing about Shiz, or perhaps maybe the worst thing about it, was that it was a small, private college. There were barely five hundred undergraduates students—including freshman. They all fit into two sets of high rise dormitories—Crage Hall for the girls, and Briscoe Hall for the boys. The college was one of the better ones in all of Oz, and it should have been, for the cost it was requiring students to pay. Elphaba, had she not been award The Wizard's Prodigious Scholar Award, she would never have been able to go to Shiz. It was simply too expensive.

The most detrimental thing about Shiz that Elphaba had discovered so far was that gossip spread. Quickly. By the end of the second day, she was already known as The Green Girl. Something she had hoped would go away after secondary school, but seemed to be magnified in the small college setting.

Her roommate spreading rumors about her far and wide did not help matters either.

So, once again, Elphaba found herself shutting herself away in her room, or whenever Galinda was around, she left for the library. Books had always been her sanctuary for as long as she could remember. Ink and parchment made better compatriots than any flesh and blood friends she could ever possibly have. And they never stabbed you in the back or pretended to be nice simply because you were the granddaughter of the Eminent Thropp of Munchinkinland. Instead, they told her their secrets, gave her a place to lose herself for hours…and they never, ever made a comment about her skin.

* * *

Elphaba was already not fond of her blonde roommate to begin with, what with the rumor spreading and her general infuriatingly perky demeanor, but her least favorite thing was the _partying. _The green girl had heard the rumors about college parties back in high school, but she had never quite believed human beings were that stupid as to ingest addictive and highly disorienting drugs en masse.

Galinda set out to, unknowingly, prove her wrong in a rather spectacular way at the end of the third week of school.

She came back to the dorm smashed. Rip-roaringly drunk. Absolutely and positively hammered. Two upperclassmen had poured her into the dorm room at a time approaching three in the morning then left her with a bucket and instructions to Elphaba to get someone if she choked on her own vomit or fainted.

So much for that three hour mandatory Alcohol Education program the incoming freshman had been forced to complete before the start of the school year, Elphaba thought as she watched Galinda hunch in her desk chair. The blonde was still in her party dress, but she looked sufficiently less stylish now that her hair was pulled back and she was clutching the Purple Puke Bucket from the RA's desk in the lobby like a lifeline.

Elphaba was trying her hardest not to smirk at her misfortune…. And she was failing miserably.

"You are very lucky you don't have class tomorrow," the green girl commented snidely as Galinda surfaced from yet another round of retching.

"Sh-Shut up," Galinda whimpered weakly, not having the energy for the biting comments and harsh remarks that she and Elphaba had been trading all since they had met. "I d-don't need to hear it from _you_."

"Hmp." Elphaba returned back to jury rigging in place the cork board she had procured from Oz-Knows-Where in front of her desk. Galinda went back to her bucket.

* * *

Their cohabitation was a strained one, for certain. Galinda tried multiple times to get a room transfer, but to no avail. Elphaba kept her up at night with her desk lamp because she was studying. After she complained to the RAs, Elphaba moved her study activities to the Library. This was better, but she often materialized back from the Library in the wee hours of the morning and made no attempt to quiet her actions upon her arrival. She was also an insufferable know-it-all, and seemed to take great glee in making Galinda seem as stupid as possible whenever she could.

Alternatively, Galinda drove Elphaba up the wall. She was constantly humming, or blasting stupid preppy pop music, or chattering away on her phone. She did not study or do much work from what Elphaba could tell. Her weekends were spent partying, which meant Galinda often returned home drunk. Which, in turn, meant Elphaba had to watch her to make sure she did not choke on her own vomit in the middle of the night.

Not to mention the fact Galinda was the beginning point of approximately eighty percent of all the rumors about her. Elphaba's favorite one so far was the rumor that she was allergic to water. It was inherently untrue, but it amused Elphaba to see the tripe the student body believed. Some people were so empty-headed.

They took little victories from each other. Galinda took great glee in seeing what outfits her roommate cobbled together. They almost always did not match, and did nothing to accentuate her frame. She also gossiped endlessly about her with Pfanne and ShenShen. Some of it was little white lies, some was truth, and other things she said were just downright cruel. But Galinda did not care; she hated her.

In turn, Elphaba was forever amused by Galinda shortcomings in class. The two shared two classes, Introduction to the University and First Semester Calculus, and Elphaba outshone Galinda in both. She outshone everyone, as a general rule, but it felt particularly good to be better than Galinda. The rumors that Galinda told she simply ignored. She had heard it all a thousand times before, and was quite used to letting idiocy roll right off her back. Dealing with Galinda, college, and the rest of the student body, she figured, was no different.

* * *

Galinda did not know why she started noticing it—maybe it was because every morning she took a decided glee in watching Elphaba dress in things that clashed horribly—but after about a month, she noticed her roommate was losing weight. The girl was already skinny to begin with, and the several pounds—for it had to be several pounds that she had lost—made her ribs even more noticeable when she changed, and her knees even more noticeable from under her nightshirt.

What was the girl trying to get _skinnier_ for? She was already a beanpole. She was bordering on skeletal, which triggered something in the blonde. She had seen friends in high school get that skinny, and it had never been for a good reason. Come to think of it, the only thing Galinda saw her roommate consume on a regular basis was coffee. But Galinda could not remember the last time she had actually seen her _eat_ anything.

Was Elphaba anorexic?

Despite herself, Galinda felt a touch of concern wiggle its way into her thoughts whenever she saw the green girl. She might hate her, but nothing good came out of starving onself. Imagine if Galinda woke up one day and found Elphaba dead in her bed from a heart attack! Imagine the talk! Galinda shuddered, and resolved herself to pay more attention to Elphaba ….just in case.

* * *

After the first month and a half, Elphaba noticed Galinda settle down a bit. The party going became less frequent, and the studying became more. Elphaba figured it was because they had just had their first exam. She knew for a fact Galinda had come dangerously close to failing the Calculus one. She had heard her bemoaning it to her friends over the phone long into the night afterwards.

But she got serious…er. It seemed that about damn time to Elphaba. She supposed that even spoiled little rich girls had to look good for their fathers. That was something she could relate to.

* * *

The leaves were just starting to change when Elphaba got the package. The RA dropped it by their room while Elphaba was out at class, and Galinda, who was currently skipping her Geology class, inspected it curiously. She had never seen Elphaba get mail before. Galinda-well, she got mail all the time. Goodies and care packages from her Momsie and Popsie, stupid little letters from her friends that meant nothing since they talked every night over OzBook. But Elphaba had never once gotten a single letter, package, post card….anything.

So Galinda naturally went over to snoop.

It was a plain box, mediumly sized, sealed shut with packing tape. The address and return address were written in fancy cursive. The return address was to one Nessarose Thropp, in Munchkinland. Who was Nessarose? Galinda wondered. Did Elphaba have a sister? She had never heard of a Fourth Descending Thropp, and she knew the Second Descending Thropp had been the tragically late Melena Thropp. The name Nessarose Thropp rang no bells in her mind, which angered her. She knew all the high society names! How could she not know someone in the Thropp family, which was such a prestigious family?

Galinda shook the box and head some gentle thumping. She wondered what it was. Something Elphaba had forgotten at home r requested be sent to her? But what could that possibly be? Elphaba used very little, and wore very little, too. She seemed perfectly happy with her five outfits, which Galinda could never understand. How could Elphaba not _want_ things?

This still did not answer what was in the box. She contemplated taking scissors to the box and opening it herself, but quickly discarded the idea. There was too high a chance that in retribution Elphaba would make good on the threats of pouring a bucket of ice water into her lofted bed at some obscenely early hour of the morning.

So Galinda resolved herself to waiting. Thankfully, she did not have to wait long.

Elphaba returned to the dorm room a little after five, looking tired. Galinda was not certain if her roommate had actually slept that night. Her desk lamp had still been on when the blonde had gone to bed, and as always, Elphaba was gone to class before Galinda woke the next morning. Despite her evident exhaustion, the green girl brightened a bit at the sight of the package. She dropped her bag on the floor in favor of procuring a pocket knife and slitting the tape.

Galinda pretended not to care, grabbing for the first time a textbook from the corner of her desk and opening it to a page at random. She pretended to read as she watched Elphaba over the top. The green girl withdrew a letter, which she quickly skimmed, brown eyes running back and forth across the lines of text. Then she did something that nearly made Galinda drop her book—she smiled.

It was not a big smile—just a small little upturn of lips, Galinda could not even see her teeth, but it improved Elphaba's entire being immensely. It was a pretty smile, the blonde realized, even in all that green skin. The smile was gone almost as suddenly as it had appeared, and Galinda was left a little disappointed.

But then Elphaba reached into the box and started to remove its contents, distracting Galinda from her thoughts. Several tins of coffee were revealed, and then two jars of peanut butter, and one of hazelnut spread. And, after a bit of rummaging among the packing, a spoon.

"Thanks, Nessie," Galinda heard Elphaba murmur. The contents of the package were put into the green girl's closet, while the letter went into Elphaba's desk. Then Elphaba went to go dispose of the box and its contents.

Galinda burned to know the contents of the letter, but her better judgment held her back. If she looked now, Elphaba would undoubtedly walk in and catch her. She would wait until tomorrow, when Elphaba had class.

* * *

Elphaba was gone by eight, which was when Galinda's phone alarm woke her so she could begin getting prepared for class. Galinda climbed rather ungainly out of bed and as she stretched, she noticed a jar of peanut butter on Elphaba's desk. It reminded her of the letter from the mysterious Nessarose Thropp, and Galinda nearly tripped over herself rushing to Elphaba's desk and opening the drawer.

The letter was there, and the blonde gingerly lifted it out, unfolded it, and read.

_Elphaba;_

_I hope this letter finds you well. Father will undoubtedly punish me when he realizes I've sent this to you, but I will give my repentance to the Unnamed God and he will forgive me for my sins. A young gentleman named Boq called, he apparently knows you, and expressed concern to me that you have not been eating. Are you spending all your money on all of those hedonistic books again? Honestly, Elphaba, the Unnamed God did not give you life, however sinful and green you may be, so that you may kill yourself by wasting away simply because you prefer books to company!_

_I've taken it upon myself to stock you, because I will not have you fainting or doing something equally stupid that will land you in the hospital and run up bills for Father to pay. Find enclosed your favorite coffee, two jars of peanut butter, and a jar of that hazelnut spread you like so much. _

_I paid this out of my own allowance, and Nanny exerted herself horribly fetching them from the store especially for you! As such, I won't be doing this again, Elphaba! I know your scholarship does not pay for your meals, and Father will not, but honestly. You have money from that summer job at the library! Spend your money on food, not your stupid book fetish! (If you even have any money left, which is not my fault if you don't. It is your fault for being so gluttonous regarding books.)_

_May the Unnamed God have mercy on your pour, unfortunate soul. (For you do have one, despite what you think. It is just very small and full of sin.)_

_Your sister,_

_Nessarose_

Galinda stood stock still, clutching the letter in her hand. She was right. Elphaba had not been eating. But it was not for the reason she had initially thought. Also, Elphaba had a sister named Nessarose, like she had suspected. The girl seemed to be very Unionist of faith, but otherwise of sound character. Despite the tone of her letter, Nessarose (_Nessie, Elphaba had called her_) seemed to care for her sister, which sent a shard of ice through her heart.

The letter showed that Elphaba was a person, even under the green and harsh acerbity and biting sarcasm. She was a person with a family and a home and a caring sister. She was a person wasting away because her scholarship would not pay for meals, and her own father would not pay for it! Galinda had heard rumors that Elphaba's father did not like her, and the only reason she was at Shiz at all was because she had gotten The Wizard's Prodigious Scholar Award. But to not pay for her meals…that was horrible!

What kind of father would let his own daughter starve?

* * *

The peanut butter and hazelnut spread only lasted Elphaba three weeks, and by the middle of Fall term, Elphaba had resumed her practice of eating very little. This practice left her very tired and very irritable, and it was to her great relief that Galinda seemed to be being a bit nicer to her. There were fewer comments about her skin tone, and while the rumor mill still spun on strongly, many of them did not seem to be about her personal life anymore.

As such, Elphaba tried to soften her words and comments. Key word being tried. Her irritability from a combination of stress and hunger caused her to occasionally lash out. Thankfully, her roommate had either developed a thicker skin against her comments or just seemed not to care anymore.

Not that Elphaba cared, really, if her words hurt Galinda's precious rich girl feelings. But their arguments only worsened her attitude and distracted from her studies. If there was one thing Elphaba could not stand was when things cut into her studies.

Which was, nominally, how Elphaba excused not eating. It cut time into her studies to go down to the dining hall and grab a meal. It was not that Elphaba did not like eating—she thought nourishment was very important, and when she could, she did eat. When Nessarose had sent her the food, she eaten it, because the food was readily available in her dorm room where she did not have to break study to eat….and the fact it had been free helped, too. The time excuse was an easier explanation than trying to explain that she had, as Nessarose had predicted, spent far too much of her personal funds on books and had almost no money left more meals.

So it came as a surprise to Elphaba when one November afternoon she came back from her last class of the day and found a container of dining room-issue salad on her desk. She picked it up and looked at it critically, then looked at Galinda, who was lounging in her desk chair, reading for Sorcery. "What is this?"

"A salad."

"And where did it come from?"

"That boy—Biq, or something?—dropped it off about thirty minutes ago," Galinda replied.

"Boq," Elphaba corrected immediately.

The blonde looked up from her Sorcery book. "No, I'm pretty sure it is Biq."

Elphaba ground her teeth together and sat down in her chair. She powered on her computer and while it booted up, tore the fork off the top of the salad container and opened the box. She did not notice Galinda smile from across the room.

* * *

"Why have you been buying two meals almost every night?" Pfanne asked critically as Galinda swiped her meal card for both her low-calorie wrap and the vegetarian chili she was buying for Elphaba. She had been doing it for two weeks now. Going to dinner early, buying something extra, and then smuggling it back into their room and putting it on Elphaba's desk under the guise of Boq. Apparently Elphaba had cornered Boq several days ago and had chewed him out for buying her dinner for the past week and a half. The poor Munchkin had had no idea what Elphaba was talking about, and left the meeting seriously confused. Galinda had resolved to be more sneaky.

"I'm picking it up for my roommate," the blonde replied carefully, not wanting to spill Elphaba's financial situation to her two vulture-like gossip rag friends. …Which was strange, because a month ago, she would have no problem doing such a thing.

"Can't she get it herself?" ShenShen asked.

Galinda thought quick. "She's busy with schoolwork." It was lame, but it would do.

"I heard it was because she was actually poor," Pfanne cut in as they sat down. "You don't need to show her kindness, Galinda! Let her starve! Maybe she'll leave!"

Galinda frowned at Pfanne's mean words. "Even mean green things need to eat."

"You're so good, Galinda!" ShenShen fluttered.

"No," Galinda murmured quietly. "I'm really not."

.

.

.

Elphaba was back in their room when Galinda returned, soup in hand. The green girl was never back this early. She had a class at four!

"E-Elphaba," Galinda stuttered, hiding the soup behind her back. "What are you doing here?"

"Chemistry was canceled," Elphaba replied, not looking up from her book. Shockingly, it seemed the green girl was taking the time to get some personal reading done.

"Oh. Lucky you." Galinda maneuvered her purse around to block Elphaba's view of the soup, but the movement caught her roommate's peripheral vision and made her look up.

"What do you have there?"

"Oh, just soup for later tonight," Galinda replied lamely. Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You are constantly complaining about how the soup in the dining hall has too many calories."

Galinda swallowed, her bluff called. "Y-Yeah, well—"

"Are _you _the one who has been buying me food?" Elphaba hissed venomously, cutting the blonde off.

"Well—I—"

"You read Nessa's letter."

"I—"

"Don't."

"But—"

"I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity!" Galinda exclaimed, dropping her purse with a clatter. "Even mean green things like you need to eat!" Elphaba laughed at that. It was a full out cackle. Galinda was affronted. "Don't laugh at me!"

Elphaba stopped laughing and scowled at her. "Stop pretending you care, Miss Galinda," she said coolly. "Go back to your shallow, gossiping friends and let me be. I can handle my own affairs."

"Which apparently include starving yourself!" Galinda usually caved in arguments with Elphaba long before this point, but on this she was determined. "I'm not going to watch you waste away!"

Elphaba's scowled deepened. "I don't need your charity."

"Yes, you do!" Galinda set the container of soup down on Elphaba's desk. "Eat it."

"No."

"Eat it!"

_"No."_

"I didn't spend five dollars to buy you soup you won't eat! Eat the damn soup, Elphie!"

There was a pause. "_Elphie?"_ The green girl's lips quirked up in an amused little smirk and Galinda flushed.

"Sh-Shut up. Eat the soup."

Elphaba frowned and opened her desk drawer. She pulled out the spoon her sister had sent her and drew the soup towards her. "Fine. This last time. Don't buy me anything else after this."

"But—"

"Do you want me to eat the soup or not?"

Galinda pouted, and after a moment, resigned defeat. "Fine. But I'm helping you get a job."

"Excuse me?"

"If I'm not paying for it, then you are. And since you don't have much money left Job. You. Get."

"I'm not getting a job, Miss Galinda." Elphaba opened the soup and stirred it neatly. "I have classes to study for."

"And a body to feed." Galinda pointed her training wand at the green girl threateningly. "Don't make me spell you!"

Elphaba snorted derisively. "You could not spell me if you tried."

"Don't insult me!"

"I'm simply telling the truth."

"Why are you so mean?!"

Elphaba cackled and turned back to her reading—and her soup. Galinda huffed and flounced out of the room to go practice sorcery in the quad, determined to prove Elphaba wrong.

.

.

.

Later that night, Galinda looked up from where she was struggling through her Calculus homework. "Elphaba?"

"Hm?"

"….I know we're not really friends but… is it alright if I call you Elphie?"

"It's a little perky… But if you insist, I suppose. I've been called worse."

The blonde grinned. "And you can call me….Galinda!"

Elphaba deadpanned. "Riveting."

* * *

"Elphaba, this is Fiyero Tigelaar. Fiyero, this is Elphaba."

The green girl observed the Winkie in front of her. He was a beautiful nut color, with blue diamond tattoos dancing over his dark skin. He had eyes the color of chocolate, and they sparkled at her when he smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Elphaba took his proffered hand. "Pleasure is mine. Galinda, why are you introducing me to Master Tigelaar?"

"Because, Elphie, Fiyero is the manager of the Ozbucks on campus, and he can get you a job!"

The green girl scowled. "I told you I wasn't getting a job because it would interfere with my study schedule."

"I know! I took that into account. Fiyero?"

"If I have you working register, you can spend a lot of your time reading. Also, we can schedule you at times that don't have lots of traffic. When are your classes?"

"One o'clock to around five thirty, except Friday, when I have class from eight in the morning to half past noon. I spend most mornings otherwise in the library."

"Hmm. I could put you on the night shift. Six to ten? You'd close, but that's easy enough. Not a lot of people come in then. You'd have a lot of spare time to do work. We pay eleven an hour, and you don't have to work every night."

"Four nights a week is enough to feed you all week," Galinda added.

"And free coffee!" Fiyero piped up. "Galinda tells me you like coffee. What is better than a job that lets you drink coffee all the time?"

Elphaba turned and looked down at Galinda. "You've put a lot of thought into this."

"Of course I have!?"

The green girl sighed. "I'll have to think about it."

"Let me know by the end of the week!" Fiyero smiled.

Elphaba nodded. "I will."

The two girls bid the Winkie goodbye and started back towards the dorm. Elphaba stuffed her hands in the pockets of her greatcoat. "Barista?" she asked after a long silence.

"All the other jobs were taken!" Galinda huffed defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. "Be glad I found you Fiyero!"

"Hmp." Elphaba rolled her eyes and brought her ID out of her pocket so they could get back into the dorm. She swiped it in the reader and Galinda got the door. The two walked in and past a flabbergasted ShenShen and Pfanne.

"Since when does Miss Galinda share the company of Miss Elphaba?!" Pfanne hissed. ShenShen shrugged her shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I made an error when uploading Part 1 and forgot the beginning chapter cap. (oops.) In my rush to upload the part, I uploaded the wrong file. Silly me! _SO_ if you all want to go back and read that, that would be great. (Sorry.)

Anyway, enjoy! Next part will be uploaded some time into the new year!

* * *

_Shiz University - Part 2  
_

* * *

In the end, Elphaba said yes. She took the job at Ozbucks.

She started her training the next week, over Fall Break. Galinda went home to Gilkin. The two stayed in touch via text over the week of break.

**F: Galinda Upland [3:00PM]**

You eaten today?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [3:10PM]**

Yes, Galinda, I have eaten today.

.

.

.

[Two Days Later]

**F: Galinda Upland [6:15PM]**

what was the calc homework again?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [6:30PM]**

[Attached Image] Picture of the syllabus attached.

**F: Galinda Upland [6:31PM]**

Have u done it yet?

**F: Galinda Upland [8:15PM]**

….You eaten today?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [10:05PM]**

Yes.

**F: Galinda Upland [10:07PM]**

Good! : ))) wait to which one?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [10:14PM]**

What?

**F: Galinda Upland [10:16PM]**

Yes 2 food or yes 2 homework?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [10:20PM]**

Reply in proper English, please. Yes to both. I finished the Calculus homework.

**F: Galinda Upland [10:21PM]**

Oh….okies! : ) How did the store go?

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [10:23PM]**

Fine.

**F: Galinda Upland [8:23PM]**

Great!

**F: Galinda Upland [11:30PM]**

Night, Elphaba!

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [12:01AM]**

Goodnight, Galinda.

.

.

.

[The Next Day]

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [03:05PM]**

Before you ask, yes I have eaten today.

**F: Galinda Upland [4:35PM]**

Sorry I was out riding! And good! : ) Have fun at work tonight!

**F: Galinda Upland [10:35PM]**

G'night, Elphie! : )

.

.

.

[Two Days Later]

**F: Galinda Upland [8:15AM]**

[IMAGE ATTACHED] Look, Elphie, it's you!

**F: Elphaba Thropp (Elphie) [10:05PM]**

Get off the Staff page of the campus Ozbucks website, Galinda.

-/-

Galinda returned from Fall Break in a whirlwind of new clothes and shoes. Elphaba now worked four nights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and a day of the weekend that was variable), so she was gone from the dorm room most of the time Galinda was in it. She did not see much of Elphaba at meals, either, but she heard through the grapevine that Elphaba was frequenting the dining hall, so it set her mind at ease a bit.

Elphaba had taken it upon herself, also, to pay Galinda back. She had offered, somewhat awkwardly, to correct Galinda's Architecture essay, and later helped the blonde struggle through her Calculus homework. Despite herself, Galinda was grateful for the help. Her grades, which had suffered since the beginning of the semester, steadily began to climb upwards.

Soon it became a pattern between them. Galinda would finish an assignment the night it was assigned and leave it on Elphaba's desk to correct. Elphaba would correct it while on break at work, and would leave it on her desk to fix the next morning.

Galinda, for her part, did not know how Elphaba managed to keep the job, maintain steadily perfect grades, _and_ help her. The woman was a never-ending powerhouse, it seemed. The blonde wondered idly if she ever slept. She rarely seemed to anyway, even before the job. Now, Galinda rarely ever saw Elphaba in her bed.

-/-

"You have really pretty hair, you know that?" Galinda asked her roommate one night as the green girl unpinned her hair from its bun. She had to keep her hair up for work—Ozbucks policy. One of the first things Elphaba did after returning back to their dorm from work was take her hair down and brush it out. Galinda always liked to watch, if she was awake for it. Tonight, she was finishing up some Sorcery reading for her seminar the next morning. (Yes, she was doing the reading. Morrible liked to give pop quizzes.)

Elphaba, in response to her roommate's compliment, shrugged indifferently. She undid her braid with practiced ease and began to brush it. When it was out, it fell to her mid-back. She looked very pretty like that, Galinda noticed. Less severe.

"Why don't you keep it out more often?"

"It gets tangled," was the green girl's response, "and gets in the way."

"Hmmph, you're just not wearing it right." Galinda stood up, abandoning her textbook, and strode over to Elphaba. The girl instantly tensed. "May I?"

She shrugged. The blonde tested Elphaba's hair between her fingers. It was of medium weight and thickness, much like her own. It would hold pins and clips just fine. And Oz, was it soft…. Galinda went to get a comb and clip from her desk. She came back and sectioned Elphaba's hair out, pulling the front strands back and twisting them elegantly so they would not come loose, then clipped them in place. She stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"There! Look at you!" Galinda opened the door on her closet that held the full length mirror. Elphaba reluctantly glanced over at her reflection. She paused, then frowned and reached back and undid the clip. Her hair fell back into place, untwisting as it went.

"I don't deserve to look nice."

"What?!" Galinda was outraged. "Who has told you that?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm _green_," Elphaba all but spat. "I'm not exactly _looking nice_ material."

The blonde did not know what to say. She bit her lip. "Well….I think you deserve to look nice. Everyone does!"

"Your naïve idealism is quaint." Elphaba reached over her shoulder and began to section it out so she could re-braid it. "However, I suggest you save it for someone else."

"Why are you so bitter all the time?!"

Elphaba finished braiding her hair, then twisted her hair tie around the end with a snap. When she leveled her gaze to Galinda, the blonde was terrified to see almost no emotion there at all. "I learned a long time ago that it is better to have no soul than a broken one."

"So being bitter and nasty is your answer?! That doesn't mean you have no soul, it just makes you cruel!"

"There are far worse ways to be cruel, Galinda." Elphaba reached for her closed laptop and slipped it into her bag. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the library."

"At ten thirty at night?"

Elphaba shrugged and grabbed her ID as she walked towards the door. "Good evening, Galinda."

The blonde sighed, and Elphaba closed the door before she could say anything else.

-/-

[Two Weeks Later]

_"Hey, Elphie! A bunch of us are going over to The Rose and Crown for dinner. You wanna come?"_

Elphaba blinked as she shifted further out onto the terrace. She was in the library and had heard her phone vibrate in her bag. She had managed to get it out and get out onto the terrace to answer it just in time. The air out here was cold—it was the beginning of December—so she wanted to make this quick.

"Who exactly is 'us'?"

Galinda had recently taken it upon herself to get Elphaba acquainted with her friends, for better or for worse, it seemed. This sounded like another one of her once or twice weekly Get Elphaba To Socialize Outside Of Work campaign. A campaign Elphaba was keen on avoiding at all costs. She could handle Galinda and one or two others, but en masse Galinda's friends were a bit…challenging.

_"Me, Boq, Avaric, Pfanne, ShenShen, Milla, …you know. The usual." _

Elphaba's nose wrinkled. Just as she had thought. "I would rather die of starvation than dine with Avaric, Galinda."

_"Oh, c'mon, he's not that bad!"_ Galinda whined over the line.

"I think I'll pass."

_"They have vegetarian options!"_ the blonde wheedled. _"And you have money now!"_

Elphaba sighed, and from Galinda's end it sounded like a burst of static. "Maybe after I'm done with my report. You go ahead. I'll text you if I don't think I can make it."

_"Okay! And you'd better come!"_

"We'll see."

Elphaba ended the call and slipped her phone into her pocket, then went back inside. She had just finished returning books that she could not use for her report back to the reshelf cart when her phone buzzed in her pocket again—two short bursts of vibration. A text. Probably from Galinda, as she was the only person who every texted Elphaba anyway.

She pulled out her phone and checked it on her way back to her study carrel.

**F: Galinda Upland [7:48PM]**

_[Picture Attached]_

Elphaba sighed through her nose and opened the attachment. It was a picture of the vegetarian section of The Rose and The Crown menu, Galinda's way of telling her they were ordering soon.

**T: Galinda Upland [7:50PM]**

_The Carbonara. If I don't make it I'll pay you back when I return to the room. _

**F: Galinda Upland [7:51PM]**

_K! and you'd better make it!_

Elphaba sighed again and set her phone aside, then pulled the nearest book towards her so she could start reading for details.

Thirty minutes later, her phone buzzed.

**F: Galinday Upland [8:31]**

_Food is here, where are u?_

Elphaba ignored the text and went back to her skimming. She was halfway through her third book when the sound of heels clicking through the book racks broke through her concentration. A hand on her shoulder made her jump.

"Brought you your food." Galinda set the styrafoam container on the carrel shelf, next to the stack of books Elphaba had yet to look through.

Elphaba blinked, and looked over at the clock. It was almost ten o'clock. ". . . My apologies, time got away from me."

Galinda mmm'd and patted Elphaba's shoulder. "Don't forget to eat it." The green girl nodded. "See you later, I guess."

The blonde turned around, hands stuffed in the pockets of her pink peacoat, and walked towards the stairs. Elphaba swallowed and turned back to her work—she could not understand why she felt so guilty about standing her up.

-/-

To make it up to her, if it could be called making it up to her, Elphaba accompanied Galinda to the dining hall the next morning. Elphaba walked the blonde through the finer points of their upcoming Calculus exam over breakfast. Galinda was so focused on Elphaba's words that she let her cereal go soggy. Elphaba pointed it out with amused tone and when Galinda gave a cry of disgust, she let the blonde have her apple. Galinda hated granny smith apples, but decided that something in her stomach was better than almost nothing at all. Plus, Elphaba's gesture made her smile a little bit, and she wanted to encourage future gestures. So she ate the apple.

"Will you help me study for the final?" she asked the green girl as they left for class.

"If you wish."

Galinda smiled. "You're the best, Elphie!"

Elphaba readjusted her bag strap awkwardly, looking a bit flustered from the compliment. The two of them parted for class, and Galinda resolved to make Elphaba flustered more often. Funnily, she looked much more human when her green skin was tinted with pleased embarrassment. Galinda thought it was cute.

-/-

Galinda spent the week leading up to finals studying with Elphaba—but also, in her own words, 'destressifying'. Her version of de-stressing including blaring Lurlinemas carols from her computer while she festooned their small dorm room in decorations.

Elphaba returned one night after work to find Galinda's side of the room looking like a Lurlinemas glitter bomb had gone off. Silver tinsel was draped everywhere, reflecting the pink light given off by the already existing pink fairylights on Galinda's loft. In addition, the blonde had hung the tinsel and lights with shatterproof ornaments in the school's colors of navy and blue. Indifferent of Elphaba's finer feelings on Lurlinemas, she had strung a string of green and red blinking lights above the barista's bed in solidarity.

Elphaba had blinked once upon arrival in this new glittery wonderland, then shook her head and made her way to her desk.

Galinda, she decided, could have done much worse.

-/-

The end of finals came with a flurry of activity. The dorm was constantly alive with people coming and going to finals, packing up and leaving campus for Winter Break, and just generally causing an unholy ruckus of some kind or another at all hours of the day. Galinda had suffered relatively little during finals week, with the majority of her finals spaced throughout the first three days. Elphaba was not so lucky. She had a final every day except Friday. As a result, Galinda did not see her green roommate much.

Galinda spent the time reconnecting with Pfanne , ShenShen, and Milla. They went into town to go shopping for Lurlinemas. Galinda picked up everything she needed for her family and friends, including a hairclip for Elphaba. It was a beautiful ebony butterfly clip accented with white designs and a couple of fake green jewels. It was minimalist enough that she thought Elphaba would wear it, but elegant enough that it would spice up her wardrobe a bit.

Galinda had the clip wrapped in store and presented it to Elphaba as she walked in the door from her last final on Thursday.

"Happy Lurlinemas, Elphie!"

Elphaba stood in the doorway blinking like an owl at the proffered package. "You…bought me a Lurlinemas gift?"

"Of course I did!" Galinda pressed the package into her hands. "Go on, open it!"

"Galinda, I have work—"

"I know, which is why I want you to open it _now_."

Elphaba sighed, giving in. She took the gift and pushed past Galinda so she could set her bag down in her chair. She carefully undid the blue and white wrapping paper and pulled out the hair clip. Galinda was ecstatic to see her roommate's brown eyes widen in surprise.

"A hair clip?"

Galinda was suddenly nervous. "Yeah well… I thought it might be good for you, since Ozbucks doesn't say _how _you have to have your hair back, you just need it back, and I thought it might be a welcome alternative to your braid and—"

"Breathe, Galinda." Galinda breathed. Elphaba took that chance and tossed the wrapping paper in her recycling bin. "…Thank you."

"You're welcome! Will you wear it for work?"

The green girl paused, looking down at the clip, then at Galinda. She looked slightly sheepish as she admitted, "I would if I had any idea how to use it."

Galinda's eyes widened and she giggled at Elphaba's predicament. "Never fear, your amazing hairstylist roommate is here!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "I was afraid you'd say that." But she tossed her the clip regardless.

-/-

The next day was Move Out Day. At least it was for Galinda. Elphaba had elected to stay over the Winter Semester to take a class. In light of their recent friendship, the two women had decided to remain roommates in the Spring Semester, but Galinda was taking most of her wardrobe home to be expertly dry cleaned and switched with the rest of her massive wardrobe. Galinda had slept in, and then spent most of the early afternoon packing while Elphaba was off at work.

Galinda was just overseeing several of her trunks being packed into the car her father had sent for her when Elphaba hurried up. She was flushed greener from the cold, which Galinda could not help think made her look slightly attractive. She had obviously just gotten off from work, as her hair was pulled back she was still wearing her dorky hat.

"Looks like I arrived just in time," she said wryly, nodding at the car and driver as she pulled something from her coat pocket. "Here." She pulled a flat object from her pocket and thrust it at her roommate. Galinda took it—it was an Ozbucks gift card, marked for twenty dollars.

"For Lurlinemas?" she asked. Elphaba nodded and Galinda beamed. She could not believe Elphaba, who hated all things Lurlinemas, had gotten her a gift! "Oh, thank you, Elphie!"

Elphaba opened her mouth to reply but stumbled as Galinda launched herself in for a hug. The green girl patted her back awkwardly, still getting used to the whole being touched thing. "I didn't have time to wrap it…"

"That's okay!" Galinda chirped brightly as she pulled away. "The fact that you got it for me is what counts! Thank you, Elphie."

"You're welcome…"

Just then, Galinda's driver appeared. "Miss Upland, that is the last trunk. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah just give me one sec." Galinda shoo'd him away and then turned to Elphaba. "Have a good break, Elphie! Or, well, you'll be having a class but… still, have fun! Don't work too hard, okay?"

The green girl shoved her hands in her pockets, "Have a good break, Galinda."

"I will!" Galinda gave Elphaba another hug before skipping over to the car. She paused as she opened the door, then cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "See you in a month! Make sure you eat!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Galinda grinned and ducked into the car. Elphaba watched the car pull away and disappear down the street before she headed towards the warmth of Crage Hall.

-/-

Winter term went, for the most part quite well for Elphaba Thropp. Two weeks in and she was immensely enjoying the extra Cellular Anatomy and Behavior class she was taken with Doctor Dillamond, and she was putting in a good amount of hours at the coffee shop. Fiyero had gone home for the break, but Tibbet and Crope had not. They horsed around and made strange concoctions behind the bar while Elphaba read for class or for pleasure. Sometimes they even let her lecture them about the intricacies of cellular behavior, or whatever else she'd been reading about that day.

There were only two things Elphaba did not like about Winter Term. The first thing was that three days after Galinda had left Shiz had been blanketed with a thick layer of fluffy snow that seemed to refuse to melt. Snow was high up there with water on things that Elphaba hated more than the Unionist religion itself. Her tromp across campus to work was always risky, as she always cut through Queen's quad, and the remaining boys there seemed to be in one perpetual snowball fight. So she bundled up tightly and walked quickly. By the second week, most of it had mostly melted away, which pleased Elphaba to no end.

The second thing she did not like about Winter Term was the distinct lack of her roommate. At first, she had reveled in the quiet sanctuary of her dorm room after a long day of class and work, as well in the distinct lack of the awkwardness that had prevailed between them. It was refreshing, and Elphaba rather enjoyed it. But as the first second week drug on into the third, she began to miss Galinda's nattering, or the way she'd come over and fiddle with her hair and give the occasional shoulder rub on the days that Elphaba had tensed up particularly hard. She missed their quiet conversations and how Galinda would sit in her chair with a smile and listen to Elphaba lecture, or the way she pouted when Elphaba helped explain her math homework to her.

She was, shockingly, looking forward to Galinda's imminent return. And she always gave a soft secret smirk whenever Galinda texted her every day at meal times reminding her to eat.

-/-

Before Elphaba knew it, Galinda Upland had moved back into their dorm room. She brought with her what felt like several hundred boxes of new clothing and virtually a thousand new pairs of shoes. Elphaba came back from her final in her Cellular Anatomy and Behavior class to find the boxes stacked up to the ceiling and Galinda unpacking them to blaring music from her computer.

"Do you think you have enough clothes?" the green girl asked sarcastically, sidestepping a pile of boxes to put her bag on her desk.

Galinda turned around, saw her, and immediately brightened. "Elphie!" She tossed her current box aside and leapt at her for a hug. Elphaba startled a little bit, but allowed the blonde to pull her into a bone crushing hug. "I missed you!"

"I didn't miss your blaring music, what in Oz is that racket?"

"It's the new _Revolution_ CD!" Galinda pulled back and went to go pause the music. "It came out over break."

"Riveting," Elphaba deadpanned. She listened to very little music, and Galinda's musical tastes held no interest to her. Galinda rolled her eyes and went back to unpacking her boxes.

"Did you have a good Winter Term?"

"Yes I did. Did you know—"

Elphaba deteriorated into a lecture about the theoretical cellular difference between animals and Animals. Galinda listened patiently, despite not understanding a word of it, as she unpacked boxes. Then, after Elphaba was finished talking and Galinda was finished unpacking, the green girl left for work—but not before Galinda had done her hair.

Elphaba left for work and Galinda returned to listening to her new music, taking down the Lurlinemas decorations that Elphaba had left up during break. The blonde sighed happily. She had, strangely, missed this.

-/-

Spring Term went off without a hitch. Despite Elphaba taking more credits than was necessarily healthy considering her workload (both school and Ozbucks-wise), Galinda managed to drag her out several times a month for dinner with her group of friends. Elphaba, trying not to disappoint Galinda anymore, attended every dinner. 'The Charmed Circle' as they called themselves was not actually as bad as all that, and while Elphaba did not particularly enjoy a night of being surrounding by slightly drunk college students, they found humor in her acerbity and being dragged along became less of a chore.

One might even say that Elphaba enjoyed herself.

(Perish the thought.)

-/-

Galinda had made a habit of playing with Elphaba's hair when she returned home from work. Elphaba took it out to braid it anyway, and it was Galinda's way of de-stressing after a long day of classes and homework. Elphaba would let her, so long as Galinda had taken notes that day in class and had done her homework while Elphaba had been at work. Occasionally Elphaba would spend the time with her eyes closed, other time she would take advantage of the time to explain something to Galinda. They were taking several classes together (Sorcery, Calculus II, and Chemistry), and Galinda relied on Elphaba to explain to her things she did not understand.

Elphaba no longer flinched when Galinda hugged her, or when she undid her braid and starting combing her fingers through the green woman's ebony tresses. Sometimes Elphaba even relaxed into her touch. Such instances were rare, and generally only occurred when Elphaba was tired and she was certain their dorm room door was firmly locked. It was a safety thing, Galinda realized one night as she stood behind a studying Elphaba, twisting her hair into an elegant fishbone braid.

Elphaba spent night and day on guard—hiding her emotions and her heart from the cruel world outside. Obviously years of taunting and cruelty had hardened her, made her throw up protective barriers. She further guarded herself with harsh words and a haughty attitude, isolating herself against everyone and everything around her. It had taken Galinda months to worm her way behind those barriers, to show Elphaba she was not a threat and gain her trust.

It reminded her of the foal Galinda had worked with during the majority of her junior year in high school. The foal had been extremely scared and skittish, and it took Galinda almost a month of bribing the foal with treats and food and a lot of patiently sitting and waiting with no sudden movements before the foal let her come near. It took several months more before the foal would let her touch it, then even longer before she could put a saddle on it and ride it.

Elphaba had been the same; Galinda did not even realize she had been treating her the same way. She's gotten her in with Elphaba through food. The peanut butter had been their bridge, even if Elphaba had not known it. And then Elphaba had paid her back for getting her a job by helping her study. Galinda had been loath to admit it at first, but Elphaba's assistance had really boosted her grades. And through studying came their friendship and through that came….

"Are you done?" Elphaba asked curiously, startling Galinda out of her daydream. Her fingers had stilled in the other woman's hair as she had thought.

"Oh. No. Sorry." Galinda looked down at the braid, assessed where she had left off, and began braiding her hair. "I was thinking."

"That's dangerous," Elphaba quipped, in the teasing way she had adopted with Galinda in the past several months.

Galinda thwacked her shoulder. "You're so mean!" Elphaba tensed a bit, then relaxed as Galinda's fingers returned to weaving her hair. Galinda finished up the braid and tied it with the tie that had been on the end of Elphaba's old braid. "There. Perfect!"

Galinda watched Elphaba move her long green fingers down across the tiny woven ripples in her hair, feeling what Galinda had done. She let her do it, but as Elphaba moved her fingers to undo the braid, the blonde grabbed her hands in hers and laced their fingers. "Don't you dare, Elphaba Thropp!"

"Elphaba?" The green girl's dark lips pouted a bit as she frowned questioning. "Not Elphie?"

Galinda shrugged.

They remained like that for several minutes, until Elphaba cleared her throat pointedly. "Uhm, Galinda…I need my hands back."

"O-oh!" The blonde dropped the green girl's hand like they were on fire, a blush staining her cheeks. "Sorry, Elphie!"

Elphaba flexed her fingers then turned back to her desk to pick up her pen. "Don't you have an Architecture quiz tomorrow to be studying for?"

Galinda shrugged, but swept back to her desk and got out the spiral that held her Elphaba-approved History of Architecture notes. She flounced down into her chair and turned away from the green girl, pretending to immerse herself in Spanish Architecture, all the while hoping Elphaba could not hear her heart thundering dangerously in her chest.

-/-

It first presented itself in that early Spring moment in their room together—but soon it began presenting itself in others. She would seek out excuses to touch Elphaba—hugs that lasted a bit longer than strictly necessary, a friendly intertwining of their arms as they walked to dinner, the like. She would listen to Elphaba's nattering about cellular biology and random chemistry facts she had dug up out of some musty library book.

And suddenly, everything reminded her of Elphaba. The newly budding leaves on the trees reminded her of Elphaba's skin. The reappearance of chalk drawing on the sidewalks as the weather warmed made Galinda wonder what Elphaba would have to say on the matter. Probably something harsh and condescending. Or she would see something in a shop window and wonder what Elphaba would think.

This new and sudden mass collections of associations confused the blonde, and it also frightened her. What were these feelings? They were so sudden, so foreign, so unexpected. And they were towards Elphaba.

What in Oz?

-/-

Galinda decided several weeks later that could not deny the fact any longer. The warmness whenever they touched, the way her thoughts always seemed to wander to her given the chance, the incessant need to be around her even more than usual…. She had a crush on Elphaba Thropp!

How was that even possible though? Elphaba was a girl! She could not have a crush on a girl! Besides, she still liked guys! She knew that for a fact. She liked watching the boys who ran shirtless around campus after classes, and she often sat with ShenShen and Pfanee on the edge of the football field, batting their eyelashes and flirting with the boys on the field. She still remembered with varying degrees of fondness the few sexual escapades she'd had with boys over the years. There had been nothing wrong with any of them, and she had enjoyed most of them, but she could not help wonder if being with Elphaba would be the same way.

No! It was just a stupid crush. A pointless, fleeting obsession. It would go away in time.

….Except it didn't.

-/-

"Elphie?"

Elphaba looked up from her computer screen. It was late. She'd been up doing her latest reading for her Genetics, Law, and Social Policy class and had lost track of the time. Her tired brown eyes glanced at the digital clock on Galinda's desk. It glowed back 1:45AM in gentle pink. She bit back a grimace.

"Elphie?" Her name again, and she recognized it as Galinda's. She looked up at her roommate's bunk, and saw her eyes gently shining above the safety railing.

"I'm sorry, is the light bothering you?" the green-skinned girl asked, immediately moving to turn off her desk lamp.

"No I'm just…." Galinda paused, seemingly hedging on something. "What… What do you think of homosexuality?"

Elphaba blinked. That was not the sort of question she expected out of many of her peers, least of all Galinda. She instinctively reached for her coffee, then grimaced when it was cold. Setting it back she replied, "I don't have a problem with it."

"You don't?"

"No…should I?" Elphaba arched an eyebrow at the idea. Perish the thought of _Galinda _of all people trying to convince her to take up the cause against homosexuality in the name of the Unnamed God. Nessa, yes. Galinda, hardly.

Her blonde roommate sat up as much as her lofted bed would allow. "You don't…you don't think it's wrong?"

"Have you been listening to that Anti-Pleasure Faith pastor who was speaking the other day?" the green girl asked resignedly, closing her laptop and standing. She supposed it was time for bed anyway. When Galinda answered in the negative, Elphaba pressed her lips together for a moment before going to fetch one of her nightshirts out of her dresser. "Homosexual behaviors have been seen throughout the animal and Animal kingdoms suggesting that it is as natural as breathing. Indeed, the argument against homosexuality that relationships and marriage are for the procreation and furthering of the race of unfounded, as there are many animals and bacteria that can reproduce asexually or without the need of fertilization from male semen."

As Elphaba spoke she undressed, her back turned to Galinda as she undid her button up and slid it off. It gave the blonde a good view of Elphaba's green expanse of back, the most skin she'd ever seen on Elphaba besides the lengths of her legs at bedtime. Elphaba paused speaking briefly as she pulled the night shirt over her head, then turned around to continue her lecture. "Therefore, if we assume that humans, as a part of the natural cycle, were can infer that we were once animals or Animals who then evolved and used our ability to think cognitively to make tools and create language. Since we are at our root animals, or perhaps Animals, it should only make sense that we share the same homosexual behaviors that are seen in the natural world.

"This whole cock-and-bull of homosexuality being a sin is nothing but religious tripe drawn up by some manic clergyman somewhere who did not like the fact he could not control himself thinking about two woman or two men together, and therefore it became a sin so that he would not give in to his pleasure and supposedly upset his Unnamed God for giving into to the weaknesses of the flesh."

Elphaba turned off her desk lamp and carefully maneuvered through the darkness to her bed. Galinda heard the soft click of her glasses being set on the bedside table, and the gentle ratchet of her setting her alarm. "Why do you ask, anyhow? It hardly seems something for your pretty blonde head to linger on."

"I –" Galinda faltered, wondering if she could tell Elphaba. Elphaba had made it clear she did not have a problem with it, which took a weight off the blonde's chest, as if her opinion was the only one that mattered in the grand scheme of things. But she did not know what Elphaba would think if she confessed the crush. She did not want to scare her away…Maybe she didn't have to tell her the whole thing.

Galinda took a deep breath and squeaked out, "I think I might like girls."

She waited for an outburst of some sort from her roommate, but nothing came. Instead, there was a gentle 'hmm' from Elphaba and the shifting of covers as the green girl arranged herself underneath her covers. "That does explain the awful lot of smoke coming out of your ears recently."

"Elphie!"

Elphaba laughed, not quite a cackle but not quite a laugh either. It made Galinda's heart flutter and she quickly drowned it out with a flustered, "But I still like boys, too!" She threw herself back into her fluffy pink pillows, making her bed sway dangerously.

"So you're bisexual," Elphaba said nonchalantly after Galinda's bed stopped threatening to give way.

"Bisexy?" Galinda asked. "What's that?"

"Bisexual," Elphaba corrected patiently out of the darkness. "It means you like both men and woman. As opposed to pansexual, which means you don't judge based on gender."

"….Oh." Galinda's head spun with all of the sudden new information she'd received tonight. "How do you even know about that?"

"I read, Miss Galinda," Elphaba quipped. "You should try it some time."

Galinda huffed and heaved a pillow over her bed at the green girl. It connected with a satisfying 'whump' that made Elphaba go 'oof' a bit. "You mean green thing, I do read!"

Elphaba really did cackle this time. "I did not realize gossip rags had recently started published doctoral papers."

"Good _night,_ Elphie."

"Fresh dreams, Galinda." Even in the darkness, the blonde could hear the smile in her roommate's voice. So she threw another pillow.

-/-

They were both stressed. Midterms were upon them, and Elphaba had reverted to her acerbic, harsh nature under the pressures. Galinda was stressed because Elphaba was stressed, and her snappy attitude was rubbing off. They had practically reverted to their pre-friendship attitudes. Their room was a volatile cocktail of tension and something had to blow—predictably, that something was Elphaba.

"Will you stop that incessant humming?!" Elphaba snarled out from where she was buried nose-deep in her Calculus II notes.

Galinda, who was destressifying by listening to music (Elphaba would not let her play with her hair), popped out an earbud. She was obviously not de-stressed enough, though, because she reacted to Elphaba's comment without thinking. "You could leave. I'm certain the Library is missing its favorite antisocial artichoke."

Her words hit Elphaba hard, she could see it in the way Elphaba froze and how the hurt crossed her eyes. Galinda almost immediately regretted them. "Oh, Elphie, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Oh shut up, _Miss _Galinda." Elphaba stood swiftly, collecting her studying things in her arms before sweeping out the door without another word.

Galinda felt awful. How could she have?

Elphaba did not come back to their dorm room until late that night. She slipped into the room silently at half past two, hoping her roommate had gone to bed. By the darkness of the room, she figured she had. Elphaba set her books down on her desk and started to pull off her sweater so she could get ready for bed.

"And where have you been?" came Galinda's voice icily out of the dark. The tiny room was flooded with light as the lamp under Galinda's desk came on and revealed the blonde to be folded into her desk chair, swaddled in a soft pink sweater and navy Shiz University sweatpants, cradling a mug of something in her lap. If Elphaba had been paying attention, she would have noticed her roommate's bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes and her general state of underdress. But she didn't. She was too angry.

"I don't believe we have anything else to say to each other," Elphaba replied stiffly, turning her back to Galinda so she could undress.

"We don't—" Galinda sputtered, unfolding from her chair and standing. "It's two thirty in the morning, Elphaba!"

"I know. I had hoped you would be asleep."

"Do you know how worried I was about you?!" the blonde asked, crossing the space between them to pull Elphaba around. Elphaba flinched, possibly at the contact, possibly because she had not yet put on a nightshirt. She immediately covered her chest with one long arm and pushed Galinda angrily with the other.

"Don't pretend to care about me," she told her cruelly, turning back around and quickly donning a nightshirt. "You've made it clear which side you're on."

"Side?!" Galinda shrieked, forgoing pretenses and dorm rules completely in her anger. "I'm not on anybody's side, you idiot!"

"You could have fooled me." Elphaba brushed past her, intent on going to bed, but Galinda grabbed her arm, holding her in place with a surprisingly vice-like grip.

"Now you listen to me, Elphaba Thropp!" she exclaimed. "Just because I got mad at you and said something mean doesn't mean I'm not still your friend! How could I, I love you too much for that!"

Silence reigned between them, and Galinda realized exactly what she said. Mortified, she released her roommate's arm and took a step back.

"Galinda—" Elphaba started slowly, but Galinda shook her head.

"I—I've gotta go, Elphie." She ran towards the door and wrenched it open, barreling past a startled looking RA and leaving an even more startled (and confused) Elphaba in her wake.

* * *

**A/N:** I like reviews. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This is it, the last installment of Life and Times at Shiz University. Thanks everyone for following this story, and I hope it is everything you wanted. :)

* * *

_Shiz University - Part 2_

* * *

_"Don't pretend to care about me," Elphaba told her cruelly, turning back around and quickly donning a nightshirt. "You've made it clear which side you're on."_

_"Side?!" Galinda shrieked, forgoing pretenses and dorm rules completely in her anger. "I'm not on anybody's side, you idiot!"_

_"You could have fooled me." Elphaba brushed past her, intent on going to bed, but Galinda grabbed her arm, holding her in place with a surprisingly vice-like grip._

_"Now you listen to me, Elphaba Thropp!" she exclaimed. "Just because I got mad at you and said something mean doesn't mean I'm not still your friend! How could I, I love you too much for that!"_

_Silence reigned between them, and Galinda realized exactly what she said. Mortified, she released her roommate's arm and took a step back._

_"Galinda—" Elphaba started slowly, but Galinda shook her head._

_"I—I've gotta go, Elphie." She ran towards the door and wrenched it open, barreling past a startled looking RA and leaving an even more startled (and confused) Elphaba in her wake._

* * *

Galinda avoided her dorm room, the coffee shop, and Elphaba as much as possible for the rest of midterms week. She only went into the room to grab clothes once, and she spent three days of the week before Spring Break camped out on an air mattress on the floor of Pfanne and ShenShen's dorm room. She had not told her two groupies of her crush on Elphaba, or even her recently self-identification of bisexuality. She just made up a story of how sick she was of Elphaba and the two allowed her into their room without any questions.

Sometimes it was nice to have friends who really hated your roommate slash love interest.

Avoiding Elphaba was, thankfully, not as hard as she thought. She knew Elphaba's schedule well enough to know where and when she would be in class, and which cut-throughs to avoid at what times. Galinda attended the classes she shared with Elphaba and as soon as she could she vacated the premises. The bonde was small and quick and sat near the door—she bolted from class as soon as it ended. Elphaba, who always sat near the front, was blocked time after time by a crowd of students rushing to leave the door, giving Galinda enough time to get away.

Consequently, spending time away from Elphaba meant that Galinda spent more time with Pfanee and ShenShen. Their gossip-laden conversations held no interest to her any longer, and she longed for Elphaba's impromptu lectures and the feeling of her silky black hair when the green girl let her play with her hair every night.

Ozdammit! Why was it so hard to get Elphaba out of her head?!

And what was worse, it was only halfway through the semester. She would have to see Elphaba on the other side of Spring Break. She probably could move out, considering the fact that the RAs had not let Galinda move out at the beginning of the Fall semester, she highly doubted that 'I accidently confessed to my roommate that I have a super huge lesbian crush on her and now have to avoid her forever' would get her out of the contract.

"Miss Galinda? Are you listening to us?"

"Hm?" The blonde was brought out of her stupor by Pfanee's annoyed words. "What?"

"I said," Pfanee replied exasperatedly, "We've going down to the Rose and the Crown tonight to celebrate the end of midterms. You coming with us?"

Oh. That was right. Midterms were over. In three days, Galinda would be going home for Spring Break! The idea, which would previously have excited her, only made her slightly queasy now. "I don't know. I don't have anything to wear…"

Pfanee waved the excuse aside airily. "Just go back to your room and grab something! The artichoke is probably still holed up in the Library reading something stupid. You can change in our room! Just grab it and get outta there, and we'll go and have Avarice buy us drinks and we'll celebrate!"

The idea of getting wasted on alcohol and forgetting Elphaba completely for several hours did sound promising. Galinda found herself agreeing to the party, and at seven o'clock she found herself sneaking back into her own dorm room to get something to wear. Elphaba was, thankfully, nowhere to be seen, so she went through her tiny closet, intent on finding something. She was so intent, in fact, that she did not hear the beep from the electronic lock as a key was swiped, nor did she hear the sound of the door opening until it was too late.

Elphaba and Galinda both stared at each other, the blonde looking very much like a deer in the headlights. Then Elphaba gently closed the door behind it and flipped the lock. "Fancy seeing you here, Galinda, considering you live here. Although with the state of your vacation the past three days, it was starting to seem not the case."

The blonde bit her lip, not trusting herself to say anything. Elphaba dropped her bag and firmly planted herself in the doorway, her arms over her chest. She was wearing the long, navy skirt and white jacket Galinda so liked. It was Thursday, so she would not be working. She probably had just come from dinner. Her hair was back in her customary braid, and with the way she was standing she probably was not going to be letting Galinda go anytime soon.

"We need to talk, Galinda. Now."

There were the dreaded words.

"I—There's nothing to talk about."

"Nothing to talk about? Galinda, in case you've forgotten, you shouted your affections at me and then before I could respond you fled and have been avoiding me ever since!" Elphaba advanced on her, and Galinda was suddenly aware of how tall Elphaba was. She was at least a head taller than her, maybe more. And when she was angry like she was now, she was downright terrifying. Galinda shrunk back, until she was trapped back against the cinderblock wall, her wall of shoes, and her closet blocking her exits. Elphaba herself was blocking her only other option.

"Will you please tell me what is going on?" Elphaba was still going strong. "Contrary to popular belief, even I can't read minds! Is this what all those questions about homosexuality and bisexuality were about? So you could pull some stupid prank-"

"It's not a prank," Galinda said quietly, sincerely, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

"What was that?" Elphaba asked disbelievingly.

"It's not a prank!" Galinda repeated louder, sudden courage filling her. She stepped forward, and this time it was Elphaba who stepped back. "Yes, fine, okay, I like you! Or something! I don't even know, okay? And yes, I'm avoiding you! Okay? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what is going on and I didn't want to upset you and mess with your midterms because if you fail that means you probably can't come back to Shiz next semester and—" She trailed off, the sudden outrush of words ending as abruptly as it began.

"I'm sorry….I messed everything up." She sniffed, rubbing at the tears pricking at her eyes. Elphaba's feature's softened and she moved in to wipe the tears away. "D-Don't, you'll burn!"

Elphaba did it anyway, and Galinda felt her smooth fingers press against her cheek.

"Am I doing the human contact thing correctly?" the green girl asked in deadpan, attempting to make a joke to lighten the mood. Galinda let out a watery giggle and nodded. Elphaba let out a little smile, the crooked flash of teeth strange, but not unwelcome, in the long green face. Then she sobered up, the smile disappearing. "Galinda I…don't really know how to respond. I wish I could tell you I feel the same way but…"

The blonde's heart sank. Just what she had been afraid of. "But you don't."

"I don't know," Elphaba said honestly. "I've never felt love before….or infatuation or….anything of the sort. I'm not sure how it feels, besides what I've learned in books. And I have it on reliable account that what you read in books about love is not actually what love really feels like."

Galinda frowned. "Where'd you hear that?"

"A little novel called _Madame Bovary_."

"Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have," Elphaba said, not unkindly. Her hand came away from Galinda's cheek and she sighed. "Look, Galinda, I'm flattered but….I really just don't know. I'm sorry. I'll have to—"

"Think about it," the blonde finished for her. Elphaba nodded. They knew each other too well. Galinda felt like crying again. "Fine…fine that's okay, that's fine…"

Elphaba swallowed and took another step back so that Galinda could get out if she needed to. "Why did you come back, anyway?" she asked when Galinda did not move. "I thought you were determined to quit me and this room for the rest of the semester."

"I was getting a dress," Galinda said, looking back into her closet half-heartedly. "Pfanne, ShenShen, and the boys are going down to The Rose and Crown to celebrate the end of midterms…and they asked me to come with them."

Elphaba sat down in her desk chair to unlace her boots. "Are you going to go?"

"I was going to…but….now I think I'm just going to go to bed." Galinda sighed and closed the door to her closet. The green girl nodded and watched her roommate change into her pajamas. Galinda then climbed up into her bed. Elphaba rose from her desk chair and pulled her work uniform out of her closet.

"What are you doing?" Galinda asked, curious. "It's Thursday, you don't work tonight."

"Fiyero called me in. Something about Crope doing something stupid and having to go to the infirmary."

"Oh…."

Once Elphaba dressed, she picked up her bag and headed for the door. "Do you want the light off?" she asked as she paused by the light switch. At Galinda's approval, she flipped the switch and plunged the room into darkness. She looked up at the gloom and said softly, "Galinda….I really am sorry."

Then she left, closing the door firmly behind her, leaving her roommate alone in the dark.

* * *

The end of the midterms came with a flurry of activity. A majority of the campus was quitting to spend a week at home, or in some cases, the Emerald City. Galinda, for once, was not torn on whether or not she needed to leave campus. She needed to be away from Elphaba, and Elphaba, it seemed, needed to be away from her. It tormented her to be away from Elphaba and her beautiful green skin, but she supposed it was for the best.

….Beautiful green skin. That was the crush talking, she suspected.

The last two and a half days Galinda spent in her dorm room were awkward, but thankfully Elphaba was in and out too much for them to really talk. The green girl had taken recently to attending Dr. Dillamond's non-class lectures on something-or-the-other science, and seemed to be reveling in the fact that she did not have any class work to do by seemingly attempting to make up for all the books she did not have time to read over the rest of the semester semester. Plus, she worked. Between the three, Galinda only saw her roommate at meals and bedtime, and meals were not often a concrete bet. They never were with Elphaba.

So on Monday Galinda packed up her few very personal affects into a small rolling suitcase and, after handing it to her driver, scribbled a note to Elphaba on a pink post it note which she stuck to Elphaba's computer screen.

_See you in a week! Don't work too hard!_

_XOXO Galinda_

Nothing about her crush, nothing about the awkwardness between them, nothing about asking her to think about it. Just a note like the ones Galinda had left before her accidental confession. The blonde wished the situation could be whisked away that simply.

* * *

Spring Break was, for the most part, going quite well for Elphaba Thropp. The campus was mostly quiet, and she got to spend a lot of time in the Library. She finished her work in a day and a half, and was determined to spend the rest of the break in the library reading to her heart's content. That is, when she was not working. She had taken the night shift every night that break, and was even working the morning the Sunday everyone returned. Fiyero had begged her to take that shift, and she had finally agreed.

There were only two things Elphaba did not like about Spring Break, and both of them had to deal with her roommate. The first was the fact that, for the first time since Winter Term, she had the dorm room to herself. Which mean she had a quiet sanctuary to return to after work, and there was none of the awkwardness that had prevailed between them after Galinda's confession. But as the week drug on, she begaan to feel…dare she say it, lonely.

During midterms, Elphaba had been too angry and had felt too betrayed to realize, but now that the air had been cleared, Elphaba had come to realize how integral Galinda had become in her life. She missed coming home from work to Galinda's silliness and excitement over the small things in life (like shoes and make up) had been. She missed the blonde asking her if her outfit looked alright, or the cute way Galinda would chew on her bottom lip as she tried to word a sentence or work a math problem . And maybe, just maybe, she missed Galinda's hugs and her fingers combing through her hair. There were no texts, either, or Galinda's daily reminders to eat. One day, Elphaba did actually forget to eat, and she only became consciously aware of her lack of food consumption upon the onset of a splitting migraine that even painkillers could not tame. Galinda's absence was very prevalent in the tiny dorm room, and this bothered the green woman.

It was something that was bothering her, indeed. This physical missing of Galinda, especially in the light of her roommate's recent confession, was not something Elphaba had ever really experienced before, and she did not like things she did not understand. She had done a lot of research since the incident in their dorm room and she had found out that love was generally thought to come about because of similarity, proximity, reciprocity, and physical attractiveness.

There was no doubt that Galinda was attractive; even Elphaba, who knew little of such things, could see that. The two girls were even somewhat similar, if one could look behind the initial exteriors—both girls wanted big things, and were determined to get there, even if it was through different means. And then there was the proximity…they were close friends, and now Elphaba was missing Galinda's company…

Could she really be in love with Galinda? Or at least at the beginnings of a crush?

Love had always been something far away. A game for foolish little girls to play. Nobody would ever love Elphaba back, anyway. Who would love a girl with green skin with a personality of rough sandpaper?

But now it seemed that, despite that, someone did. Elphaba was still grappling with the concept that someone like Galinda could actually like someone like her. She'd never been loved before, not even by her own mother, really. Could it really be that for the first time, someone actually accepted her so wholly and completely?

The thought made Elphaba uncomfortable. So she did what she best. She hid the thoughts and feelings in books tried not to remind herself of them.

* * *

Galinda Upland was miserable. She had returned home for break and had spent most of the break alone in her room watching movies. And when she had exhausted the meager supply of action movies she had, she tried watching her supply of romance movies and ended up crying, because all it reminded her of was Elphaba. She could not even go riding because the only horse that seemed constantly available was Charcoal, the stallion she had fostered a bond with through food…just like her roommate.

She hated this. She hated this feeling inside her chest—the dull ache of unrequited love and the pain of rejection…even though she had not, officially, been rejected yet. But she could tell it was coming. She just knew.

She was not sure how she was going to survive the rest of the Spring Semester. Thankfully, with work and school, Elphaba was almost never actually in their room. But she would miss their late night talks and playing with Elphaba's hair and meeting up with the green girl for dinner or for lunch. And she would miss _Elphaba_, with her stupid witty comments and the way she smirked when she was right and—

Galinda let out a choked sob and buried her head in her pillows.

She hated this.

* * *

When Galinda returned to campus the next Sunday, she was determined to find Elphaba. She sent her driver home and began her mission. The campus was still quiet, as it was rather early on Sunday morning. She suspected the rest of the campus would arrive around lunchtime.

She checked their dorm and the Library, and not finding Elphaba at either, she headed to the coffee shop. And it was there she found her—her black braid pulled back into a bun with bobby pins, the rest stuffed under a stupid little visor, her lean body clothed in black shirt and pants of her uniform with the apron tied neatly around her waist. It made Galinda pause in the doorway and she became painfully aware of how much she had missed her green roommate over the break.

Elphaba looked up from the book she was reading behind the counter. "Welcome to—G'linda?" In her shock, she mispronounced her name. The look of surprise on her long face was priceless.

"It's Galinda, with a guh," the blonde teased, stepping in and letting the door close. "Really, you're as bad as Dr. Dillamond."

"What are you doing here?" Elphaba asked, looking slightly flabbergasted. Elphaba was never flabbergasted. That was new. But then again, Galinda almost never came to the Ozbucks when she was on duty.

"I was… looking for you, actually… but now that I'm here I guess I'll get a coffee." Galinda looked up at the menu board. "Um…I'll have a single decaf expresso con panna, extra cream and a little bit of caramel….Please."

Elphaba nodded dumbly and rung her up. She took Galinda's credit card and swiped it, then went to make her drink. Galinda watched her with interest, having never seen her actually do anything besides work the register before. She was actually rather good at her job, as she was with everything, Galinda supposed. When she was done, Elphaba handed her the drink and Galinda dropped three dollars in the otherwise barren tip fishbowl.

"Are you here alone?" Elphaba asked as Galinda took a sip. It was good. Elphaba did not just look good at her job.

Galinda swallowed her sip and nodded. "I sent my driver home."

"Oh…." Elphaba looked down at her book, which she'd left open by the register.

"What about you?" Galinda asked, knowing she would lose Elphaba to the book if she did not say something quickly. "Are you here alone?"

Elphaba nodded in the affirmative. "I have the shift until two."

"Oh…." Galinda looked down at the floor. "Um… have you thought any about—"

"Yes," Elphaba said immediately. Galinda looked up, hopeful, but Elphaba's face gave nothing away. "We'll talk after I'm done working."

Galinda swallowed nervously. "Oh…okay. So I'll…um…see you back at the dorm?" The green woman nodded curly, reaching for her book. "Alright…See you then. Thanks for making me the drink."

"You're welcome," Elphaba replied absently, more out of job-driven courtesy than any actual sincerity. She was already becoming reabsorbed in the pages of her book.

Galinda took that as her sign to leave. She pushed open the door of the coffee shop, the bells above it tinkling happily. Galinda pressed onward back to Crage Hall, swiping her ID at the door to get in. There was nobody at the little front desk, funnily enough, but Galinda supposed even front desk people needed pee breaks, too.

The blonde strolled down the hallway to Room 22, where she slid her ID again and pushed the door open as it beeped. She flicked on the lights as she walked in, and it was almost exactly as she had left it a week and a half ago. Her lights still dangled from her bed and Elphaba's coffee machine still stood on top the top of the bookshelf, the coffee pot half full. The only thing that seemed to be different was Elphaba's bed—she seemed to have forgone her usual hospital corners that morning. The sheets were rumpled and pushed to the side, and Galinda was seized with the sudden inexplicable urge to jump on the bed and bury her nose in the sheets to inhale Elphaba's scent.

So she did. She curled up in the bed, taking a deep breath. Elphaba's pillows and sheets smelled like her and her oils, a combination of dusty books and sandalwood. Galinda let herself get lost in the scent. If she closed her eyes she could imagine leaning back into the green girl, her arm around her, safe in her grasp.

Galinda wasn't even trying anymore. She loved her roommate. She was absolutely head over five-inch pink heels in love.

The blonde sighed and rolled over, burying her face into Elphaba's pillow. She did not know why she was getting her hopes up. From the sound of Elphaba back in the coffee shop, their 'talk' was going to be a rejection.

Galinda wanted to cry.

.

.

.

The blonde was still lying on Elphaba's bed when she came back from work. Elphaba stopped in the doorway, observing her sprawled on the unmade sheets, eye closed.

"Enjoying yourself?" Elphaba asked as she reached up to undo her bun.

"Mmmm," was Galinda's response. Elphaba shook her head and set the bobby pins from her bun in the little container she kept on her desk. The green girl walked over and sat in Galinda's rolling chair, hunched over slightly.

"Galinda," Elphaba began after a minute or two of uncomfortable silence. Galinda rolled over and opened her eyes. Elphaba was still in her uniform, but her braid was down. This displeased Galinda; she liked it when Elphaba wore her hair out, although it was still a rarity.

The green woman also looked nervous, another Elphaba rarity. Galinda sat up and perched opposite Elphaba on the edge of the bed. Elphaba sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, then tried again. "Galinda, look, I care about you a lot…."

The blonde's throat constricted. That was not a promising start.

"You're my only friend," Elphaba continued, her hands finding themselves in her lap, "and I've never been in a relationship before…." She bit her lip briefly, then started again. "I've given it a lot of thought since you let slip you had feelings for me. And like I told you, I don't know what love or infatuation or 'crush'—" long fingers separated to make air quotes around the word "—feels like, but I did some research and—"

Elphaba would, Galinda though. If she did not understand something, she went to find a book on it. Or from the length of Elphaba's speech, several books. The blonde zoned back in just in time to hear, "I can't ignore the logistics of it all. By all accounts, I might actually have feelings for you. That being said….Galinda, you must understand, I've never been in a relationship before. I haven't the faintest idea how to even begin to start one, or how they work, or—"

Galinda leaned over, her hands reaching for Elphaba's. Pale fingers covered green ones, and Elphaba looked at her. "But I do. I can teach you, Elphie. It's really not that hard. If you can learn all that biochemistry organic stuff, I'm sure you can learn how to be in a relationship."

Thankfullness flooded Elphaba's brown eyes, but there was something still that bothered her. Desperately, the green girl said, "Galinda, I don't want to hurt you."

The blonde's heart constricted a bit; she squeezed Elphaba's hands comfortingly. "Elphie, you could never hurt me. I should know, I lived with your aciderty for a month and a half back when we hated each other."

Elphaba's lips quirked up into a bit of a smirk. "Was that an attempt at the word 'acidity' or 'acerbity', Miss Galinda?"

Galinda pouted. "Not all of us can be as smart as you, Elphie!"

"No, you're right," the green girl allowed. "But you're plenty smart enough."

The blonde grinned and pulled Elphaba in for a hug. Elphaba gave a little yelp, surprised by the small girl's strength. The two of them toppled back on the bed from the green girl's momentum, narrowly avoiding hitting the cinderblock wall behind them. The two shared a look and then Galinda burst out into giggles. Elphaba, despite herself, cracked a small.

Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

"Your first lesson," Galinda declared loudly three nights later, "is cuddling!"

Elphaba, who was currently embroiled in re-reading her notes, did not seem amused by this prospect. "Excuse me?"

Three days had passed since the two had agreed to try out a relationship. They had gone to bed much the same. The next day, Elphaba had returned from work that night to find Galinda still awake. It was then they set down some ground rules for their new relationship.

Elphaba's rules were the following:

1) No public displays of affection. (She did not need to be thought of as a green freak _and _a lesbian. At least, not yet.)

2) No disgusting pet names. Galinda could keep 'Elphie' but could not call her anything else.

3) The relationship would not interfere with her coursework.

4) They would go slow.

5) No bars or nightclubs.

Galinda has similar rules.

1) All PDA (eventually kissing, hand holding, etc) was to be kept in their dorm room.

2) One date twice a week. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner in the dining hall did not count as a date.

3) Study nights could count, so long as it was not in their dorm room.

And together they made a couple of mutual rules:

When they went out, Elphaba could wear whatever she liked, but Galinda got to style her hair.

Once the rules were laid down, the two shyly bid each other goodnight, and Galinda even leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to Elphaba's cheek before climbing up into her bed.

Now, it was the next night, and Elphaba was studying for the exam she had upon the immediate resumption of break. Galinda, who was bored to tears, wanted to act on the ability she now had to be close to Elphaba. So she had proposed Elphaba's First Relationship Lesson.

"Cuddling," Galinda replied patiently, going over to Elphaba's desk and snatching her notes from out in front of her. "That is your first relationship lesson, Elphie!"

"Galinda, I have to study for my exam!" Elphaba said impatiently, holding her hands out for her notes. "Can't we do this another time?"

"You can study _after_ your lesson!" the blonde replied stubbornly. "Besides, your test in in three days. You have plenty of time!"

"Galinda, what did we talk about inter—"

"This isn't _interfering, _this is _taking a break!_" Galinda pouted. "You've been studying all day, Elphie! C'mon."

The two had a brief, intense stare down before, finally, Elphaba conceded defeat. "Fine. You get half an hour."

"Yay!" The blond ether Elphaba's spiral on the end table dragged the gangly green girl out of her desk chair. "Now get in bed!"

Elphaba's eyebrow's winged upwards. "Excuse me?"

"N-Not like that!" Galinda flushed. "I w-wouldn't—I'd never—we just started—"

"Calm down, Galinda. I was joking." The green girl moved around the blonde and sat on her bed. "Now what?"

"Cuddling is like hugging sideways." Galinda came and sat beside her new girlfriend.

"I am well aware of the mechanics of cuddling."

"Oh." Galinda flushed again, but soldiered bravely onwards. "Do you want to be the big spoon or the little spoon then?"

Elphaba's expression was blank.

Galinda tried again. "Do you want to be the cuddler or the cuddle-ee?"

"I'm fairly certain neither of those two terms are actual words."

"Stop stalling!" the blonde huffed. "I'll be the big spoon then." She sprawled out along the wall edge of the tiny bed and motioned the green girl to lie down. Hesitantly, Elphaba did as she was told.

"Loosen up," Galinda chided her as Elphaba lay beside her, facing the other direction, stiff as a board. Her arm rubbed up and down the green girl's arm comfortingly.

Elphaba, who remained as stiff as a board despite Galinda's prompting, griped, "I fail to see why this is so sought after."

"That's because you need to _loosen up!_" the blond pinched her bony hip. "It's more comfortable when you _relax!"_

Elphaba sighed in exasperation and tried, but the relaxation was forced. Galinda sighed, accepting it as a start, and leaned forward to nuzzle her nose into Elphaba's braid.

"Galinda….what are you doing?"

"You smell so good. You always smell good."

"It's the oils."

The blonde giggled. "I'd never thought I'd like your aversion to water so much."

"I'm glad it has some use than."

Galinda hummed and slid a hand between then to tug on the tie at the end of Elphaba's braid. It slid off, and Galinda began unraveling the braid, combing her fingers through the long, dark tresses. "Wish you didn't have to put it back for work…it looks so much better down."

"Rules are rules."

"Well the rules are stupid!"

Elphaba chuckled, then there was silence between them. Galinda resumed her combing. Slowly, the green girl began to actually relax under her touch. Galinda stopped her combing after a bit and leaned in to nuzzle Elphaba's loose hair, her arm going to encircle her thin waist and pull her close.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Mmmm." Galinda nodded. "You?"

"I still fail to see why this is so desired. I have work to do, Galinda."

"You're such a killjoy," the blonde whined, nuzzling deeper into Elphaba's hair. Then she sighed. "Your spiral is on the end table. Go ahead and read or something."

She felt Elphaba shift to reach the spiral, then she heard the rustle of pages and felt Elphaba's body settle in to read. Galinda closed her eyes and tried to imagine Elphaba holding her, and how safe it would feel to be in the green girl's arms. Before she knew it, she had dozed off. She stirred awake perhaps an hour later. Elphaba was still in the same position, and the sound of flipping pages indicated that she was still studying.

"Is this better?" Galinda asked, her voice a bit muffled from Elphaba's hair. "I'm guessing since you're still here…"

"This is more enjoyable, yes." Elphaba set the spiral on the end table and turned over so she could face Galinda and speak to her. Galinda bite back a gasp—the way Elphaba looked, her hair pooling around her face and shoulders, the way the shadows reflects across the sharp angles of her features, and the look of satisfaction from studying that Galinda was certain she had only ever seen in the green girl's eyes before…she looked stunning. Then, softly, "Thank you for accommodating me."

Galinda wanted to kiss her, right then and there, but managed to refrain.

_We're going slow!_ she reminded herself. _Slow means no kisses for a while._

"Whatever makes you happy, Elphie." Galinda smiled. Elphaba frowned.

"But what about you?"

"It made me happy. I fell asleep, didn't I?"

Elphaba's lips twitched into a crooked little smirk of amusement. "I thought you were being strangely quiet."

* * *

The two fell into a pattern. Elphaba would wake up at her normal ridiculous-o'clock, would do homework and take care of her hygiene, then would return to dress and make sure Galinda was awake. After Galinda woke, dressed, and did her morning routine, the two would eat breakfast together then go to their shared morning class (Calculus II). Afterward, they would split and go on to their second class of the day and lunch separately.

Elphaba and Galinda shared the same last afternoon class each day (Sorcery and Chemistry), so when class ended they would head back to the dorm together and stop by the dining hall for an early dinner. Then they would head into their dorm. Elphaba would change and leave for work while Galinda would shower then start on her homework. She would generally finish about the time Elphaba would come home. Elphaba would check over Galinda's homework while Galinda brushed and fiddled with her girlfriend's hair, then afterwards then londe would insist on cuddling. Elphaba would go over her notes or do reading for class during this, and oftentimes, Galinda would fall asleep in Elphaba's arms. Around midnight, the green girl would kick Galinda out of her bed and the two of them would change and go to bed. (Some nights; others, Elphaba would just her girlfriend sleep.)

They both found solace in their routine and they came to rely on it. Elphaba, who lived on routines and time tables, was secretly glad that her flightly, impulsive Galinda was agreeable to their new schedule. It made it much easier for Elphaba to focus on the growing feelings for Galinda. Soon, a sense of protectiveness that she had only before associated with her sister had emerged, along with a fondness that she had never had for anything before.

These piled upon her other feelings for the blonde. Slowly, resolutely, Elphaba realized that these feelings might be her definition of love.

* * *

Nearly two and a half months after they first started dating, Galinda and Elphaba shared their first kiss. The Spring Semester was long over, and Summer Term was well afoot. Elphaba had elected to stay at Shiz over the summer, as had Boq, Tibbet, Crope, and surprisingly Fiyero. Galinda refused to stay at Shiz during the summer on principle, but she visited several times during the semester, unable to bear the distance between her and her green girlfriend.

The weekend Galinda was visiting, Elphaba had the Saturday night off and had already finished her homework. It was a nice night and Galinda insisted they go for a walk. With hardly anyone on the campus, Galinda was comfortable slipping her arm through Elphaba's. Their relationship had not exactly been a public one, but it had not been strictly private, either. Fiyero and Boq had worked it out rather quickly, and Tibbet and Crope had said the two had tripped their gaydar long before the two had gotten together. Pfanne, ShenShen, and Milla had yet to figure it out, and to both Galinda and Elphaba's opinion this state of ignorance was to be continued for a long as possible.

Pfanne, ShenShen, and Milla were not on campus for the summer, and neither was anybody that Galinda deemed to matter, so she happily snuggled up to Elphaba's side as they went. They walked through the cool summer night, watching lightning bugs flicker on and off around them. Galinda's hand found Elphaba's and intertwined their fingers. They walked along the canal that formed the border between the school and the city and Elphaba stopped at the base of the bridge that crossed it. Galinda turned around so she could face her girlfriend.

"Thank you for walking with me, Elphie," the blonde said with a smile, swinging their intertwined hands a bit.

"Of course, my sweet."

Galinda colored pleasantly. The moniker was new, and Galinda loved it. It showed her that Elphaba did really care about her. Sometimes it was hard to tell what she was thinking it feeling behind the stoic green face. It was things like 'my sweet' or the occasions when Elphaba would take the second to brush a curl out of Galinda's face that revealed the green woman's true feelings. It could be frustrating, but also so rewarding.

Elphaba, at that moment, tucked an errant blonde strand behind Galinda's ear. Her green fingers lingered on the blonde's cheek, then moved to cup her face. Galinda was pleasantly surprised by this move—Elphaba almost never initiated physical contact.

"You said when we started dating that I was the one to decide when I was comfortable moving things on," Elphaba murmured, and Galinda had to lean in closer to hear.

"Yes…I did…"

"Well…I think I'm ready." Before Galinda could fully process the remark, the green woman had leaned down and had pressed her lips to Galinda's in a feather soft kiss. The kiss lasted all of a moment, but the stupid grin that light up the blonde's face lasted all night.

* * *

[Several Weeks Later]

Galinda pulled away from her girlfriend, breaking their kiss gently. "Elphie, I love you, but you're forcing it…"

"You said kissing would come naturally," Elphaba groused, sounding in that moment like a petulant child.

"It does. You're trying too hard."

Elphaba scowled and pulled away. "This is sophomoric, I have a test to be studying for."

Galinda propped herself up on her elbow and looked vaguely amused. "You're just upset because for once you're not amazingtastic and freakishly good at something without even trying."

"Sorcery has addled your brain."

"You're taking Sorcery, too!"

"But you a semester longer than me."

Galinda threw herself dramatically on top of her girlfriend, and Elphaba let out an 'oof' as the weight of her girlfriend forced the air out of her lungs. "Just admit it, Elphie! You're upset because you're not a natural kisser!"

"I will admit no such thing."

* * *

Elphaba was not in their room when Galinda moved back in at the beginning of the Fall Semester. Galinda was disappointed that her green girlfriend was not in residence, but she quickly got over it and started setting up her side of the room. In came her posters, her clothes, her sheets and pillows, and her various electronics. She was just straightening up and was about to start down to the Student Union to pick up her textbooks for the semester when Elphaba walked in the door.

"Elphie!" Galinda chirped happily. Elphaba had obviously just returned from work—she was in her uniform, hair back, and she looked slightly frazzled. She must have had the morning shift, which was hard enough to begin with, but when the campus was swarmed with parents on Move-In Day it became worse. It was understandable that even the unflappable Elphaba was a little frazzled after a long morning. However, a little smirk twitched across her dark lips as Galinda rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the green woman's neck, pressing a kiss to her dark lips.

"My sweet," she murmured when they parted.

Galinda nuzzled into Elphaba's neck and took a deep breath. The green woman currently reeked of coffee, but there was the underlying smell of sandalwood and dusty books that always seemed to follow her. "I missed you."

"You saw me two weeks ago."

The blonde pulled back and looked at her girlfriend, slightly aghast. "I still missed you!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. The she glanced over at the other side of the room. "I see you've moved in."

Galinda nodded. "Uh huh. I just finished up. I'm so glad we're still rooming together!"

"I'm certain you would pitch a fit if we weren't." Elphaba pulled away from her girlfriend to go sit at her desk. It was as pin straight and neat as always. "I have something for you."

"It's not a planner, is it?" Galinda was only partly teasing. Elphaba had gotten her a planner once.

"Not quite." Elphaba turned to her small bookshelf and scanned the familiar titles. She pulled one off that Galinda did not recognize; it was bound in green and had gold lettering on the spine. Elphaba handed it to her and Galinda looked at the cover. _Architecture of the Emerald City—Conception to Present._ Curious, Galinda opened the book and flipped through it.

It quickly became clear that the book was several years out of date, but Galinda still found it fascinating. She traced her fingers over the glossy pictures of the Ozmopolitan Hotel and the Palace, along the classic Yellow Brick Road and how it wended its way through the great city. She quickly became wrapped up in the book, admiring the designs. Finally, Elphaba cleared her throat. Galinda looked up guiltily.

"Oh, Elphie… it's beautiful. Thank you."

"I thought you would like it. I apologize for not wrapping it."

Galinda closed the book and traced her fingers over the golden letter on the cover. "Where'd you get it?"

"The library was going to throw it away," the green girl informed her. "Apparently they just got the new edition."

"Thank you for thinking of me, Elphie," Galinda hugged the book to her chest then leaned down and hugged Elphaba. Elphaba froze for a second, then hugged her back.

"You're welcome, Galinda. It was intended for your birthday, which was three days ago, so…"

The blonde beamed at her. She pressed a gentle kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "Thank you." Galinda pulled back and went to go put the book on her desk. Elphaba took the opportunity to remove her work hat and pull the bobby pins out of her hair. Galinda turned around and saw her doing it and made a distressed noise in the back of her throat. "Elphie, let me!"

Elphaba obediently stopped and let Galinda moved behind her chair and pull out the rest of her bobby pins. She closed her eyes and felt the blonde's fingers pull her bun down and begin to unravel her braid. Galinda's fingers combed through her hair, her nails scraping against the green girl's scalp. A soft little noise of contentment escaped from between Elphaba's lips—she had missed this.

Galinda moved Elphaba's hair to one side and after a moment of hesitation leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to the exposed green skin. Elphaba shivered a bit at the unfamiliar contact. They had not yet gotten past making out—Elphaba had gotten very good with her tongue but had not yet allowed Galinda close to her neck. That exposed feeling was something Elphaba had trouble with. So when Galinda pressed her lips to the column of Elphaba's throat, half of her wanted to panic, but the other half of her wanted to ask Galinda to do it again.

"Okay?" the blonde asked softly. Elphaba managed to nod. Galinda's lips turned up into a smile, and she pressed another kiss to her girlfriend's emerald skin.

* * *

[Three weeks later]

"Mnnnmm, _Elphie_," Galinda's moan was soft and breathy in her girlfriend's ear, encouraging her to continue with the loving, gentle kisses the green woman was currently working up and down the blonde's neck.

"Be quiet, my sweet, someone will hear us." Elphaba paused in her ministrations to give her girlfriend a pointed look.

The blonde pouted. "You stopped."

"Only temporarily."

"The door is closed, anyway."

"Dormitory walls are thin, my sweet." But Elphaba went back to kissing Galinda neck, much to the blonde's infinite pleasure.

* * *

Their relationship was one of the worst kept secrets on campus. It was a secret, so of course everyone knew about it. Eventually, Elphaba and Galinda just stopped caring. Their rules of keeping their affections inside the dorm room gradually dissipated, and Galinda spent a whole lot of time holding Elphaba's hand and sitting on her lap at friendly gatherings. Occasionally she would sneak the tiniest of kisses when nobody was looking.

The 'crowning moment' of their relationship was when Professor Morrible had the Sorcery 2 Midterm outside in the courtyard to protect the school buildings in case of a backfiring spell. Students had gathered around the safety perimeter to watch the show. The midterm exam was judging the proficiency in which one could conjure a boulder, levitate it, and the push it as far as was possible using magic alone.

Galinda had, with minimum coaxing, produced fairly good results. She had conjured the boulder fine, levitated it a foot or two off the ground, and then had pushed it two or three feet back. Morrible had given her a decent score. Elphaba thought that gathering crowd might have actually _helped _the blonde perform. As Morrible vanished Galinda's boulder and called Elphaba up, the green woman made a note of this new development. She could definitely use it later to help Galinda study.

"Begin whenever you are read, Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba closed her eyes and shut out the growing crowd. She let the magic flow through her veins, feeling it tingling in her fingertips and began to chant the needed spells. In short order, she had conjured the boulder, made it hover (to the shock of everyone) at head height, and then pushed it so far that it came to a skipping stop at the edge of the perimeter line fifty yards away, sending the bystanders standing there scattering.

Dead silence reigned across the courtyard. Elphaba turned to look at Morrible, who was looking somewhere between looking overjoyed and like someone had forced her to eat moldy bread. It screwed up her features in a resulting expression that was unpleasant on her already fish-like face. The expression lasted for only a moment, before she turned to Elphaba and croaked, "Full marks, Miss Elphaba."

The green girl barely had time to blink at the unprecedented score before Galinda had screeched in excitement and had launched herself at Elphaba. The blonde bowled her over and gave her a full on congratulatory kiss, in the middle of the courtyard, in front of a good portion of the school.

At some point in her distant past, Elphaba would have mortified by such an intimate and public display of affection. But like the leaves currently swirling around the courtyard, she had changed. She was no longer the person she had once been, mostly thanks to the woman who thought nothing of throwing her arms around her neck and expressing her excitement in the best way she knew how

So Elphaba threw caution to the wind, wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist, and kissed her back.

* * *

_[The End]_

* * *

**A/N:** And there it is! Thanks for reading! Leave me one last review to let me know what you think? :)


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